Bindings! What's the word?

[SchralpTheGnar]

I’ve been rocking my trusty fritchis, t2s and freerides for 20 seasons now, and still love them, I feel confident in them and they are super easy to get in and out of which is crucial for 14er skiing where you will take your skis on and off about an average of twenty times per descent.

One upside is that there’s a decent selection of setups on Craigslist and what not for reasonable prices as everyone is moving to tech binding

[ulvetano]

I've had a bit of fear with my Dynafits after Otina's trials and tribulations, but none-the-less sticking with them. A light setup is a game changer in my opinion and I'm a single quiver guy for all things in-bounds and out. I'm on DPS Pagoda Tours (105s), Dynafit ST Rotation, Maestrale boots, and BD Ascension skis (prefer the Glidelight). For me this type of setup has been great and allows you to travel fast and ski anything.

[Barnold41]

Spark R & D.

[SnowAlien]

I am loving my Dynafit TLT Superlites! The older I get the less weight I want to haul uphill. The annoying part is the low heel riser (and the price)
https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/ ... ite-2-0-10

[NathanRL]

If anything'll get me to leave race bindings, it'll be the Ski Trab Titan Vario. Definitely want to try it out and see if it really releases like an alpine binding.

[dsr80304]

I'll second that Shifts are no bueno for any significant touring or vertical. They are great for 50/50 skis, travel, sidecountry, but I'd recommend a dedicated touring binding for distance and vert
I'll also second inserts - I have one current pair of skis I like for both inbounds and BC and only takes 10-15 mins to switch em over from one to the other. The downside is that each pair of skis is that much cheaper (no required new bindings), so "saving" money on bindings = blowing alot more $$$ on more skis

[wheresgibbs]

ATK all the way -- have logged lots of time w/Dynafits and G3 Ions and very happy to have found ATK. Putting the new C-Raider 12 to the test this season and nothing but good words to say.
FWIW I am not huge and not aggressive. If I were, or if I were really concerned about about it, I would consider the Vipecs.

[bergsteigen]

After 8 years on Dynafits, I found two failed to release modes to snap bones, so I’m done. They’re still on my resort uphill skis, cause groomers.

Shifts can do big tours, just gotta have strong legs! So stop whining.

Any binding has failure modes that won’t release, and I’ll find them. I have Look Pivots on all my resort gear - and surprise - you can’t release perpendicularly out of them. Go fig. Thankfully I stopped the fall before unhinging my knee.

The more you play, the more chances for something to go wrong.

[CaptCO]

After 8 years on Dynafits, I found two failed to release modes to snap bones, so I’m done. They’re still on my resort uphill skis, cause groomers.

Shifts can do big tours, just gotta have strong legs! So stop whining.

Any binding has failure modes that won’t release, and I’ll find them. I have Look Pivots on all my resort gear - and surprise - you can’t release perpendicularly out of them. Go fig. Thankfully I stopped the fall before unhinging my knee.

The more you play, the more chances for something to go wrong.

Word! I board, but this is valuable (albeit foreign) information for me if I switch to skis! Your experience and input on this forum is priceless

[Snow_Dog_frassati]

ATK all the way -- have logged lots of time w/Dynafits and G3 Ions and very happy to have found ATK. Putting the new C-Raider 12 to the test this season and nothing but good words to say.
FWIW I am not huge and not aggressive. If I were, or if I were really concerned about about it, I would consider the Vipecs.

I'm all for team ATK. I remounted my skis after having endless durability headaches with my shifts. I don't hate shifts but I also recognize that they have some significant limitations if you're trying to do any substantial amount of backcountry skiing. I think they'd be great on a fat sidecountry ski that spends most of its time inbounds prehaps.

I have loved my ATKs and I can't see a reason to change. I think one of the biggest advantages is that the R12s are very light but still have independent pins vs U-springs. The do seem to release more predictably than I first thought. I'm most excited by the fact that the weight reduction has made me much faster on the up.

I've logged a few resort days on them as well. They did better than expected I think but I'll still be sticking with my resort skis for a variety of reasons

[pvnisher]

After 8 years on Dynafits, I found two failed to release modes to snap bones, so I’m done. They’re still on my resort uphill skis, cause groomers.

I have Look Pivots on all my resort gear...

Why don't you put inserts in those skis?! You save so much money and add so much flexibility. I can't imagine ever mounting a binding with wood screws and epoxy ever again, and am not sure why anyone does it, ever.
Or maybe you do and I'm reading it wrong.
Anyway, inserts, my friends!

[spoony]

Not sure if people interested in this thread have listened already, but Cody Townsend has a pretty in-depth discussion on one of the Blister podcasts about bindings. He specifically addresses the Shift v. pin binding debate.

I think it is this one: https://blisterreview.com/podcasts/cody ... ons-ep-119

His take, admittedly as a sponsored Salomon athlete, seems pretty reasonable.